Danny Briere's "monster game" leads Flyers over Senators in OT, 3-2
by Travis Hughes on Jan 7, 2012 5:09 PM EST
in Philadelphia Flyers Game Recaps - 11-12
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PHILADELPHIA -- If you told me in June when the NHL schedule came out that two games after the Winter Classic, when the Flyers would host the Ottawa freakin' Senators in a 1 p.m. game the Wells Fargo Center, that it would be one of the more intriguing games of the year, there's not a chance in hell I would have believed you.
Well, you would have been right. Danny Briere GOT IN A FIGHT and scored a hat trick, including the overtime winner with five seconds left, as the Flyers came back to beat the Sens, 3-2. It was an absolutely phenomenal prelude to tomorrow's 5 p.m game in Ottawa, and I'm sure the team is going to have quite the time on the plane ride up to Canada.
Peter Laviolette was certainly fired up about Briere's afternoon.
"Inspiring. Inspired me, I know that. He came out and he was skating and he was in the battles and gettin' knocked around and taking some and giving some. That's where he's gotta be in order to score the goals. He's gotta be willing to take that from some big guys. A fight, three goals, won it with half a dozen seconds left on the clock. It was a terrific, terrific effort.
"You watch a guy like that, he's not big. You know, even in that fight. I know it's a couple of skilled guys but he probably gave up -- I think the reach, probably three or four inches in reach. Is that what they go by in fights, reach? He's not a big guy. A flyweight.
"He did a good job in the fight. It gave our bench a lift. It was not a good second period for us. You know, we ended up comin' out stormin' in the third period. We weren't able to crack a goal right away, but certainly, I think it gave us a lift. He had a monster game, really."
Overshadowed by Briere's heroics was the fine day of work put in by Ilya Bryzgalov. He made 35 saves on the afternoon for the Flyers, and many of them, including a pad save in overtime, were absolutely huge. He just looked a whole lot calmer and more confident in the crease today, and he seemed to track the puck really well all afternoon.
The team was pretty hard on themselves after the game. Danny Briere said it wasn't the best game for the team, and he felt that they didn't bring it for the full 60 minutes. Kimmo Timonen thought they let off the gas in the second period a bit, but that overall they were the better team on the afternoon.
But really, I didn't think they played that poorly at all. I don't think the score was indicative of the chances the Flyers had, especially early on in the game. They hit posts and just generally seemed unlucky on a lot of their chances. Hey, they got the win. That's all that really matters.
Questions with Answers
- It was a physical game with quite a few PIM last time these teams met. Again? 36 combined. It was a fiesty game. Nothing to sneeze at.
- Can James van Riemsdyk have another solid game? I didn't notice Reemer all that much today. Thought Sean Couturier really stood out in limited ice time (thanks, PP time) though.
- What about Matt Read? He had four points against Ottawa last time out. No points, but he was involved in the game.
- It looks like Kimmo Timonen will play, because he's a bad ass. How's he look, and how many minutes does he play? He led the team in ice time and had an assist, all while feeling the pain. he's a bad ass.
Comment of the Day
Rogue 6 to echo base. We found him. Repeat. We found him.
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I made this for you guys
Mr. Corsi Fenwick, you confuse the hell outta me.
by zachtbhood on Jan 7, 2012 5:16 PM EST reply actions 5 recs
Missed the game (forgot it was an early afternoon one), but apparently rumors of Danny Briere’s transformation into the Invisible Man were overstated.
Bob.
by The Dark on Jan 7, 2012 5:25 PM EST via Android app reply actions
He picked a nice time to reappear.
"Fly Eagles fly..."
"Only the Lord saves more than Bernie..."
by 92-74-99-96 on Jan 8, 2012 3:40 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
I like the sound bar feature. Plus spectrograms look cool.
The Sens are a much improved club at least by what a half season can tell you.
Improved? That is an all star team out there.
Commenter formerly known as M from Pdaddy, but still just Call Me "M"!
DISCLAIMER: Information written above may not be entirely factual nor provable with the use of complex statistics. But it may induce thought, humor and possibly laughter.
by MJDII on Jan 8, 2012 9:01 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Things I noticed while at the game
(Im so happy noone bought my tickets)
-Coots was really impressive when he played, he had two or three dangling plays that almost led to goals
-Lilja blows. I saw him give at least three pucks away in our zone
-Hartnell was kind of quiet today, nothing major out of him
-Vorucuk is a fast kid. Towards the end of the third period he was flying by
-As I was leaving the TV said that Danny Briere had gotten the 1st and the 2nd star of the night. Yeah, he’s THAT good.
-I didn’t see one person in an Ottawa jersey
#Briereforpresident
I might have emailed you about those tickets last night…we found other ones right at the time I sent it though. Glad you got to go.
by everybodyhitswoohoo on Jan 7, 2012 5:30 PM EST up reply actions
Just got back as well. What a game...
-Vorucuk is a fast kid. Towards the end of the third period he was flying by
He looked good late but I thought early on he tried to puck handle too much instead of just skating and that led to him getting separated from the puck often.
OT, there were a brother and sister sitting behind me from Ottawa that were awesome to talk to. The Brother is working in Philly for a couple months and says he loves Philadelphia’s passion for sports. He actually knew more about the Flyers than most of the Flyer fans did.
Some guy at PSU Hershey Med Center just discovered a virus that eats cancer. Where were the CNN trucks for that? THON will probably break $10 mil this year. Put that on "Outside the Lines".
He actually knew more about the flyers than most of the Flyers fans did.
He’s Canadian he probably forgot more about hockey in general.
Commenter formerly known as M from Pdaddy, but still just Call Me "M"!
DISCLAIMER: Information written above may not be entirely factual nor provable with the use of complex statistics. But it may induce thought, humor and possibly laughter.
-Coots was really impressive when he played
This. Twice he nearly created shorthanded goals
Danny Briere had gotten the 1st and the 2nd star of the night.
Danny was very good indeed. However, I would have argued the second star should have been the goal posts and the third star the crossbars.
-Lilja blows
The stupidity of the Lilja signing (one more year! can't be waived off the cap! hurray!) may be one of the few points of unanimous agreement in BSH (for those in TGP, kinda like the need to sign J-roll, except in reverse). Of course, I’ve been saying this since the day of the signing.
GMAT verbal section question, Philadelphia sports version.
In 2015, which one of the following will prove to be a better investment?
(a) Ilya Bryzgalov's contract (b) Ryan Howard's extension (c) Mike Vick's extension (d) Greek bonds from 2009 (e) Papelbon's bloat deal
The post and crossbar were pretty kind/cruel to both sides today.
by everybodyhitswoohoo on Jan 7, 2012 8:15 PM EST up reply actions
i've said it forever
lilja is the slowest player in the nhl
by samu el jax sun on Jan 8, 2012 1:49 AM EST up reply actions
Both posts and crossbar have more skill than Lilja. Lower cap hits, too.
Lifelong Tennessean, Flyers' fan for life
Homer will sign them to 10 yr deals with NMCs.
"I wouldn’t run if there was a fire. I wouldn’t run anywhere. I hate running." - O. Munn
by doubleh on Jan 7, 2012 11:00 PM EST via iPhone app up reply actions
Can’t we trade him for a bag of sticks? I mean, would anything prevent us for trading him for a player to be named later? Or “cash considerations”?
It's in his wheelhouse!!
Carlos Ruiz, My Nickname is Chooch.
As long as we make sure we select the PTBNL, so that it doesn’t end up being a Harry Chiti deal.
Bob.
I’m glad I go to go too. It was only my second Flyers game and I got to not only see a win, but a great performance.
Its funny because we were seated in the section next to the Hat Trick display, and I had to explain my girlfriend what that meant. Which came in handy when it happened!
Eagles: Season, but they'll be back with a vengeance next year. #KeepAndyReid
Flyers: On a nice roll
Phillies: Looking to next year
Danny has been shooting the puck a LOT in the past eight or so games. Glad they finally started going in. And that fight was awesome.
Bryz needs more games like that. Very well done by him.
Three-game point streak for Schenn. I see you, Brayden.
36 of 65 on faceoffs. Is it just me or have we been better on those lately?
PP needs to be better, but thank god for the one they did get.
Carle and Bourdon with some rough turnovers. Eep.
Lastly, I’m on a two-game hat trick streak. Last game I had been to before this was the game against the Thrashers last March where Leino got one. I’m on a roll.
Hooray for beating the Eastern Conference All-Star team. Let’s do it again tomorrow.
by everybodyhitswoohoo on Jan 7, 2012 5:41 PM EST reply actions
In order…
- Briere’s production is in-line with what he has done in the past. But, as a goal scorer, it’s always good to see him throw the puck at the net.
- Bryz was very good this game. I think if this is a start of a run of 5 or 6 starts like this, his confidence will be back and he should be good to go the rest of this year.
- We have been doing better on faceoffs. Last games vs. CHI was good too.
- PP hasn’t bee spectacular, but it hasn’t been inept, either. When you get 6 in a game, you’d expect one conversion. Any more is a bonus.
- Turnovers happen, even to the best of them. It when it becomes a multi-game thing is when you get concerned.
- You need to go to every game then.
- Bi-winning. Let’s win here, and let’s win there.
Babe, Bucky, Buckner, Boone, BALTIMORE!!!
Couple of general thoughts in response:
—Briere has 37 shots in his last 8 games. That’s awesome. If he keeps that up he’s gonna keep putting them in the net. He’s one of the few guys on this team who’s had bad shooting luck this year (15% for career, 12.6% this year even after today) so hopefully that turns a bit soon.
—Bryz had that nice run that lasted through most of November and he had another one early in December before he imploded again. Would be great if this is the start of another one.
—I’d love to be at every game, but sadly this will be my last one till March.
by everybodyhitswoohoo on Jan 7, 2012 8:07 PM EST up reply actions
- Briere’s production is in-line with what he has done in the past. But, as a goal scorer, it’s always good to see him throw the puck at the net.
Almost perfectly, too. He’s currently at 0.36 GPG and 0.42 APG. His career averages are 0.36 and 0.44, respectively. Yes, it’d always be nice to get more from him, but this team’s so ridiculously balanced in scoring (8 forwards with double digit goals), that having Briere as a secondary threat is more indicative of this team’s offensive skill than a disparagement of his talent.
Bob.
Hooray for beating the Eastern Conference All-Star team.
Yeah, what’s up with that anyway? Some of you MLB fans might recall that for a number of years the MLB all star game was NOT voted on by the fans, since in 1957 the Cincinnati fans stuffed the ballot box and had like 7 starters named to the team. The Commissioner of baseball vetoed this and stripped the fans of the ability to vote in the players.
Of course, Bettman would not do this.
GMAT verbal section question, Philadelphia sports version.
In 2015, which one of the following will prove to be a better investment?
(a) Ilya Bryzgalov's contract (b) Ryan Howard's extension (c) Mike Vick's extension (d) Greek bonds from 2009 (e) Papelbon's bloat deal
He might if no one watches the game. Ratings talk, Ottawa’s-voted-in players should walk.
Lifelong Tennessean, Flyers' fan for life
faceoffs. Is it just me or have we been better on those lately?
It’s not just you. Schenn was 9 for 13 in faceoffs today.
I see you, Brayden.
I heart our rookies.
"Who's more crazy? Who's more...weird?"
by LeepinLizardz on Jan 7, 2012 8:34 PM EST up reply actions
Hey, LL, saw you in the news this week.
GMAT verbal section question, Philadelphia sports version.
In 2015, which one of the following will prove to be a better investment?
(a) Ilya Bryzgalov's contract (b) Ryan Howard's extension (c) Mike Vick's extension (d) Greek bonds from 2009 (e) Papelbon's bloat deal
That was such an awesome article. Thanks for sharing :)
I heart our rookies.
"Who's more crazy? Who's more...weird?"
by LeepinLizardz on Jan 8, 2012 9:07 AM EST up reply actions
Schenner’s our top faceoff man so far this season (excluding small sample size players). 52.2%. Coots has got to work on that aspect of his game though, operating at 46% at the moment.
Simon Gagne AND Mike Richards may move between towns, wear new jerseys and call different arenas home but, at the end of the day, they will both always be Philadelphia Flyers.
One day Sean Couturier will win the Conn Smythe. You heard it here first.
by PursuitOfLappyness on Jan 7, 2012 8:49 PM EST up reply actions
Bryz was awesome at stopping two breakaways after two stupid turnovers. I thought it was over right both times but Bryz was brilliant. I was very impressed.
Eagles: Season, but they'll be back with a vengeance next year. #KeepAndyReid
Flyers: On a nice roll
Phillies: Looking to next year
He looked real comfortable for the most part. Seemed like he moved from post-to-post better than he has been for most of the year.
by everybodyhitswoohoo on Jan 7, 2012 9:21 PM EST up reply actions
I was also at that game against the Thrashers with Leino’s hat trick. This one was much better. We ended up blowing the lead and losing that one, and I had Leino benched in fantasy so the Flyers and I both got nothing. :-p
Lightning strikes once, Hextall strikes twice!
"I think there is virtue in pissing off idiots." - Fehr and Balanced
I threw my hat on the ice that time (a decision that I was VERY bitter about a half-hour or so later, because I loved that hat), but this time I was in the upper deck and wearing the Winter Classic toque that I just got for Christmas, so I decided to pass. Feeling OK about that decision.
by everybodyhitswoohoo on Jan 8, 2012 11:32 AM EST up reply actions
FYI
Briere, at 179 lbs., would be classed by the following boxing organizations – WBA, WBO, IBF, WBC – as a light heavy weight. Two notable light heavywights are Roy Jones Jr.and Philly’s own Bernard Hopkins.
Hopkins (left) vs. Pascal (right).
Flyweights are 112-114.9 lbs. (115 lbs. marks the beginning of the superflyweight class)
112-114 lbs? Are flyweights children? Or (skinny) women?
I heart our rookies.
"Who's more crazy? Who's more...weird?"
by LeepinLizardz on Jan 7, 2012 8:35 PM EST up reply actions
I boxed as a super-middleweight / light heavyweight when I was around 168-175 … and that was pretty much right after basic training, when I was 18. I have never been that light since either – by the following rugby season I was around 210. It never ceases to amaze me how light these guys really are, considering that they don’t just do cardio they also include weight training. I guess it’s the pads – they look more like football/rugby players, but really they’re more like short basketballers.
Maxime Talbot - in the Orange and Black ... better than chocolate and peanut butter!
by MaximumTalbot on Jan 8, 2012 9:56 AM EST up reply actions
Yeah, I did martial arts through high school and college, and when we checked for Olympic weight classes, I kept bouncing between welterweight (176.1) and heavyweight (no limit) for TKD and half-middleweight (81 kilos) and middleweight (90 kilos) for judo (I did TKD and aikido). Given that I was between 5’7" and 5’9" during that time period (5’7" in early high school, 5’9" by graduation), I wasn’t as tall as most hockey players (except Briere).
Bob.
I didn’t see the game but I heard the second period through the end. Sounded like a great game. Danny definitely had one.
Interesting / ironic / cool that the two guys questioned the most this season, Danny and JVR, really stepped up in the past two games.
Do you see what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps?
Interesting / ironic / cool that the two guys questioned the most this season, Danny and JVR, really stepped up in the past two games.
I agree and am wondering who’s going to be next in today’s game!
Lightning strikes once, Hextall strikes twice!
"I think there is virtue in pissing off idiots." - Fehr and Balanced
I was at the game, in box courtesy of my neighbor’s company, and Danny Briere’s kid was in the box next to ours. Pretty awesome
Following Dan Carcillo where ever he may go
Read, Rinaldo and Sestito Flyercrushes until his return
by Cillo stache on Jan 7, 2012 6:38 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
I didn’t think they brought their A game for this one- although they have had worse games this year. Crowd seemed quiet, and it looked like the offense (besides Briere, obviously) wasn’t all on the same page. It says something when you can beat the team right behind you in the standings (yeah, weird, but true) without your best stuff and still pull out a win.
The fourth line of Rinaldo-Z-Scooter is looking like a very good fourth line. It’ll be interesting to see what happens to it once Jagr comes back.
Babe, Bucky, Buckner, Boone, BALTIMORE!!!
JVR, Simmonds, Talbot or Read gets demoted and Rinaldo will sit again
by Anders Jensen on Jan 7, 2012 7:21 PM EST up reply actions
My guess is Talbot, or maybe JVR if his hip flairs up on him. Simmonds and Read aren’t fourth-liners. Talbot-Z-Scooter is a solid third line, let alone fourth.
Babe, Bucky, Buckner, Boone, BALTIMORE!!!
Simmonds and Read aren’t fourth-liners
All of the young guys have been a bit up and down, although all have shown flashes of brilliance. It might be Talbot, but that might be because he would not care. I’d personally like to keep Talbot and Voracek with Briere, since T & V have shown some chemistry together, and I’m pretty sure Danny was pleased with V today. OTOH, I thought Read and Briere just did not seem to work for some unknown reason. I’d really prefer to see Read, Scooter and Z together on the fourth line, which would be one terrific fourth line, and would set up well for penalty killing and other special teams duties.
Having to make these kinds of choices are “happy problems” for Lavi, even if they are difficult choices. I’m guessing none of us thought we would be arguing for Read being on the top lines before the season!
GMAT verbal section question, Philadelphia sports version.
In 2015, which one of the following will prove to be a better investment?
(a) Ilya Bryzgalov's contract (b) Ryan Howard's extension (c) Mike Vick's extension (d) Greek bonds from 2009 (e) Papelbon's bloat deal
oh yes, clearly this is a good problem to have as it shows we have a good deal of depth up front. Question is how do we optimize production/chemistry. I’d do this:
Jagr-G-Harts
Read-Briere-Voracek
Simmonds-Schenn-JVR
Talbot-Z-Scooter
Obviously, there’s some flexibility in there, but that’s a very good group of forwards no matter whom you put with whom.
Babe, Bucky, Buckner, Boone, BALTIMORE!!!
I’d put Reader on the 4th
Jagr-G-Harts
Talbot-Briere-Voracek
Simmonds-Schenn-JVR
Read-Couturier-Zolnierczyk
That lineup feels very balanced to me. And we can roll out that 4th line in tough situations to ease pressure on the third line.
Simon Gagne AND Mike Richards may move between towns, wear new jerseys and call different arenas home but, at the end of the day, they will both always be Philadelphia Flyers.
One day Sean Couturier will win the Conn Smythe. You heard it here first.
by PursuitOfLappyness on Jan 7, 2012 8:52 PM EST up reply actions
Was my thinking aswell. I have been really impressed with the Schenn line and Briere seems to have good chemistry with Voracek
by Anders Jensen on Jan 7, 2012 9:39 PM EST up reply actions
I don’t see Read as a fourth-liner, though. He’s got 12 goals already, which translates to 25 for the year. That’s an awful lot of offense to have on the fourth line. Talbot does have 10 this year, but never has had more then 26 points for a year in his career. He seems to be a more natural fit on the fourth, given his body of work. If there’s any injuries out there, he’d be the first to get “promoted”.
This is a good problem to have. I don’t think either way is wrong, but someone with Read’s goal-scoring ability shouldn’t be on the fourth line, IMO.
Babe, Bucky, Buckner, Boone, BALTIMORE!!!
I don’t see Read as a fourth-liner, though. He’s got 12 goals already, which translates to 25 for the year.
JvR’s on essentially the same pace, and arguably with bad shooting luck (he’s shooting 10.8% to 10.5% for his career, but that includes his offensively-challenged rookie year).
I’d be fine with either Simmonds or Talbot being on that fourth line. Couturier is a surprisingly responsible defensive forward, Zolnierczyk is one of the fastest players on the ice, and either Wayne or Max can bring a physical two-way play with adequate speed to give that line defensive capability with an offensive threat. I don’t think either JvR or Read belong on a line with Couturier that should be getting more defensive assignments (although probably against lower QoC opposition), just because their skillsets are both more offensively based.
Bob.
just because their skillsets are both more offensively based.
Huh? I think Read’s skills are puck-handling, passing, and moving without the puck. I like him on defensive assignments! That’s why he is great a PK (which would be ideal in a 4th line situation).
GMAT verbal section question, Philadelphia sports version.
In 2015, which one of the following will prove to be a better investment?
(a) Ilya Bryzgalov's contract (b) Ryan Howard's extension (c) Mike Vick's extension (d) Greek bonds from 2009 (e) Papelbon's bloat deal
While Simmonds is truly too talented to be on the 4th line, his physical play would fit in well there. He’s just a guy that can play up or down the lineup as you need him. He won’t complain about it, either, which is a big plus.
Lifelong Tennessean, Flyers' fan for life
We have way too many good two-way players…..
Simon Gagne AND Mike Richards may move between towns, wear new jerseys and call different arenas home but, at the end of the day, they will both always be Philadelphia Flyers.
One day Sean Couturier will win the Conn Smythe. You heard it here first.
by PursuitOfLappyness on Jan 7, 2012 11:46 PM EST up reply actions
Is that really possible???
Maxime Talbot - in the Orange and Black ... better than chocolate and peanut butter!
by MaximumTalbot on Jan 8, 2012 9:58 AM EST up reply actions
Should of kept Richards and Carter
by everybodyhitswoohoo on Jan 8, 2012 12:09 PM EST up reply actions
(I kid. I kid.)
On that note, though, is it just me or is Voracek much better defensively than I anticipated? Maybe it’s just the fact that he’s playing on the PK at all, but he seems to be fairly competent in his own end.
by everybodyhitswoohoo on Jan 8, 2012 12:11 PM EST up reply actions
He seems to be adequate on D, which is a massive upgrade from Ville “why am I below the blue line” Leino.
Bob.
by The Dark on Jan 8, 2012 2:27 PM EST via Android app up reply actions 1 recs
This was only our second win this season in which Claude Giroux has played and recorded zero points. That’s nuts.
by everybodyhitswoohoo on Jan 7, 2012 8:08 PM EST reply actions
this was my birthday present. was in the 4th row behind the Ottawa net for the game. overtime winner was just awesome. I went fucking nuts. and the danny b fight was amazing. I turned to my mother and said remember this you’ll never see danny b fight again
by profoundnotions on Jan 7, 2012 8:12 PM EST via Android app reply actions
So I’m watching the Hot Stove in between the 2nd and 3rd period of the Wings/ Leaf game and they’re taliking about the possibility of a fricking wild card for hockey…that’s jus t fucking dumb. There’s too much parity to be giving undeserving teams a pity fuck.
would this be under the new format that got rejected by the players recently?
Babe, Bucky, Buckner, Boone, BALTIMORE!!!
Actually that I’m not sure of. Although, I caught the tail end of the conversation and as they were talking about the rejected new format just before it, I think it’s safe to assume it was in that context. They were arguing the wildcard from the fans’ viewpoint.
The original plan was to have the top 4 in each conference make the cut, no matter what. I could see why the players wouldn’t like that (and I don’t either). What I’d like to see is something like it was before the current alignment- two two-division conferences with the top 8 making it in either conference with the division winners the top 2 seeds.
Babe, Bucky, Buckner, Boone, BALTIMORE!!!
Back with the Flyers and the Patrick division, the 5th place team was usually better than most of the other divisions’ 4th place teams. I think the fear is that the Patrick and Norris are going to be dogfights, and the Adams and Smythe winners will coast to the 3rd round.
Flyers, Phillies, Union, Eagles, Phantoms, Wings.
Yes, this is my fear too. In the proposed “Patrick” division, most years the Flyers, Rangers, Penguins and Caps- or at least in recent years- have been contenders. If the other three teams want to make it, they have to get ahead of one of those teams. Not impossible, but not exactly fair either.
Babe, Bucky, Buckner, Boone, BALTIMORE!!!
Yes, but this changes over time, so you can’t really build a playoff system based on that assumption.
Lightning strikes once, Hextall strikes twice!
"I think there is virtue in pissing off idiots." - Fehr and Balanced
But see above, you *can*make an assumption that “some” division would be better/worse over time! That is the advantage of the current system.
GMAT verbal section question, Philadelphia sports version.
In 2015, which one of the following will prove to be a better investment?
(a) Ilya Bryzgalov's contract (b) Ryan Howard's extension (c) Mike Vick's extension (d) Greek bonds from 2009 (e) Papelbon's bloat deal
I could see a wild card working if it’s at the cost of guaranteed slots. For example, instead of the top 4 from each conference, have it be the top 3 from each conference and the next 4 best records. Those “wild cards” would be assigned so the top one went to the conference with the 3 lowest-scoring top teams, up to the lowest wild card getting the conference with the three highest-scoring automatic invites. I’m sure there’d be bitching about that as well, but it would be a way to avoid the “crappy conference” syndrome.
Bob.
Well my argument comes from the use of wild cards as a cheap form of parity. Given that the cap has created league wide parity for the most part or is supposed to have, a wild card seems unnecessary and will only serve to drag the season out which is not ideal where the health of the players is concerned.
Without a wildcard of some form though, under the previous plan you could theoretically end up with conferences/divisions where all 4 playoff spots are more or less locked up well before the end of the season. If a fluke situation like that happened where there ended up being a 30 day period where all 7-8 teams in a division practically have nothing to play for, that wouldn’t really be good for the game.
For example, if the new conference structure had gone through, this is point totals for the teams in the new Adams+ conference from 2010-11:
Boston 103
TB 103
Montreal 96
Buffalo 96
Toronto 85
Ottawa 72
Florida 72
Other than some jockeying for playoff position amongst the top teams, if those same finishing numbers were to somehow happen again under the new system, it looks to me like that division would have been all but decided when each team still had a couple weeks to play. Then you have a lot of meaningless games happening for all the teams involved, because there’s no threat of being affected by a team in a different conference. That’s a theoretical situation I hope I never see.
I’d rather go with The Dark’s plan and have three guaranteed spots and then wildcards, or even two guaranteed spots and extra wildcards. That would even leave 8 guaranteed spots to be earned by being in the top two of your division, which is more than the 6 guaranteed spots the NHL has now.
Warning: Arguing the NHL CBA with me could be hazardous to your mental health. Proceed at your own risk.
by DragonGirl0583 on Jan 8, 2012 5:34 PM EST up reply actions
This system takes the best of the old and new! Nice, TD. Call Bettman and Fehr for us, will ya? :-))
GMAT verbal section question, Philadelphia sports version.
In 2015, which one of the following will prove to be a better investment?
(a) Ilya Bryzgalov's contract (b) Ryan Howard's extension (c) Mike Vick's extension (d) Greek bonds from 2009 (e) Papelbon's bloat deal
You guys, the Pens are about to be 4th in the division. Heh.
by everybodyhitswoohoo on Jan 7, 2012 9:26 PM EST reply actions
Thank God. Living in Pittsburgh and being the huge Flyers fan I am, I couldn’t be any happier about the Pens Scum being in 4th place.
Diehard Flyers fan living in the heart of Penguins country
by Legion of Bullies on Jan 8, 2012 1:24 PM EST up reply actions
Also, just stumbled upon this tweet right here.
Who knows, maybe the Pens will be in 4th for awhile.
Diehard Flyers fan living in the heart of Penguins country
by Legion of Bullies on Jan 8, 2012 1:33 PM EST up reply actions
To be fair to them, they’ve had absolutely atrocious luck since…basically since the beginning of last year.
by everybodyhitswoohoo on Jan 8, 2012 1:55 PM EST up reply actions
Btw anybody there can tell me where to find gameid for games? I would like to see the corsi numbers for this game
Well, here’s your Corsi/Fenwick.
To find a game number, I just go to NHL.com, go to a game’s page, and take the last 5 digits from the number in the URL.
by everybodyhitswoohoo on Jan 7, 2012 9:47 PM EST up reply actions
Any word on any discipline coming down for Butler’s elbow on JVR or Turris checking Briere’s head into the ice?
Be sure to drink your ovaltine
I wouldn’t imagine. Also, Briere had that head shove coming, as he stick tapped Turris’ balls 2-3 times preceding the fight
"Start playing with some jam in here"
by CoburnsCuddleBuddy on Jan 8, 2012 7:50 AM EST up reply actions
Turris, probably not because of what CCB just said. Butler, maybe.
by everybodyhitswoohoo on Jan 8, 2012 11:17 AM EST up reply actions
Bryz
Anybody else out there thinking Bryz is going to get himself some stronger games in now that the HBO cameras are done distracting him?
Bryzgalov was struggling before the HBO cameras, so their disappearance is not going to be related to his playing better.
That won’t stop many from making the connection though.
Man-crushin' on Boucher since 1999 and Matt Calvert since May 2010
Broad Street Hockey - Makin' it look mean since 1967.
SB Nation Philly - Associate Editor
by Geoff Detweiler on Jan 8, 2012 1:31 PM EST up reply actions
Schenn. I am really getting a feel for the kid’s game and I like it and I do see promise. He is pretty feisty around the net for a rookie and he has been hustling his ass off.
Commenter formerly known as M from Pdaddy, but still just Call Me "M"!
DISCLAIMER: Information written above may not be entirely factual nor provable with the use of complex statistics. But it may induce thought, humor and possibly laughter.
And Travis there is no such thing as a monster game. It’s humongous big game or it doesn’t count.
Commenter formerly known as M from Pdaddy, but still just Call Me "M"!
DISCLAIMER: Information written above may not be entirely factual nor provable with the use of complex statistics. But it may induce thought, humor and possibly laughter.
Bryz in net today.
This is his third back-to-back, and in what’s admittedly a limited sample he did well in the first two, so who knows?
by everybodyhitswoohoo on Jan 8, 2012 3:04 PM EST reply actions
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